Vessels for holding liquid come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and serve a variety of purposes, such as swimming pools, fuel tanks, water troughs, plant reservoirs, etc. These containers share a common problem. Maintaining the held liquid at a desired level or within a desired range is an arduous and never ending task. This problem is particularly troublesome when the water has to be manually and frequently carried to and poured into the container as is the case with potted plants.
Providing a proper water supply is fundamental to health and growth for all plants, and greatly affects the size, quality and yield of any fruit or vegetables they produce such as tomatoes, potatoes, beans, cucumbers, berries, and the like. Maintaining a proper water supply to a plant requires ongoing observation and watering, particularly for potted plants where the nutrients and water supply to the roots are confined to the soil in the pot. While most people enjoy the beauty of plants or the quality and taste of home grown vegetables, many find plant watering a monotonous or time consuming task. Even those that enjoy the satisfaction of caring for their plants are frequently unable to water them when they are away from home or if they simply forget. Routine plant watering is also somewhat complicated by the fact that water consumption rates vary for a variety of factors, such as the type or size of the plant, the type of soil and weather or sunlight conditions. Different plants consume water at different rates, and these rates vary during different seasons of the year and different days of the week. Maintaining a proper water level is particularly important for systems where the roots extends below the soil and into a lower water reservoir. The root system is exposed to air and can dry out or experience strain when the water in the reservoir drops below a desired level.
A variety of devices and systems have been developed to help monitor or supply a proper amount of water to conventionally potted or hydroponic potted plants. These devices and systems include: visual floats as in U.S. Pat. No. D257,529 to Rapp, U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,254 to Block, U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,868 to Lui and U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,265 to Scannell; overflow openings as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,561 to Tsuchiya; gravity fed systems with small apertures or holes to provide desired flow rates as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,240 to Racine and U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,338 to Buss; gravity fed systems with water level activated valves or the like as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,150 to Roos, U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,770 to Roos, U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,443 to Jacobsen and U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,386 to LaBahn; and electrically powered systems as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,515 to Robins and U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,884 to Deppe, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
A problem with conventional plant watering systems that use a float to control the flow of water to the water reservoir is that the root system of the plant inhibits the movement of the float. Should the float become blocked in the deactivated position, the water supply to the plant will dry up. Should the float become blocked in the activated position, the water supply will overfill the potted plant, which could harm or kill the plant, waste water, and cause a costly spill onto the surrounding area, particularly if the system is inside a home or building. The root system of a healthy growing plant can be so pervasive that the movement of the float can be completely blocked. As a result, watering systems using float actuated valves are usually impractical for hydroponic systems.
Conventional watering systems that require electric power are typically too expensive for residential or personal office applications. The few plants being maintained by one or two people or even a large family simply does not warrant an elaborate and expensive watering system. These watering systems also need to be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis to ensure proper operation. Improper maintenance or setup can result in costly spills and harm the plant.
Another problem with conventional watering systems is that they require too great a change in water level in the reservoir to activate or deactivate water flow to the reservoir. The root systems of plants using these watering systems are constantly experiencing too much or too little water, which results in poor plant growth and health.
The present invention is intended to solve these and other problems.